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From: James Hammons
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Elecraft] Rig drift
Date: Sat, 28 Sep 2002 22:06:38 -0400
Reply-To: james-e-hammons at worldnet.att.net
An easy accurate way to evauate dirft and frequency accuracy is to use
the free program for PC's, BeaconSee. All it requires is a connection
from the headphone jack to the line in of your soundcard. If you are
set up for soundcard digital you are ready. This method just about
eliminates errors in tuning and zero beating WWV, and it should work
anywhere in the world.
=20
Reading the setup instructions tell you to use lower sideband and tune
1kc high. With the K-2 it's easier to tune to the beacon using cw
mode and set the center equal to your sideband frequency eg 600cps.
Drift on SSB is not likely to be a problem anyway. If your frequency
calibration is accurate you will see a line trace the beacons you can
hear and see. Use the plug only partway in to see and hear. If the
calibration is off the line will be above or below the center
frequency. If there is drift the line will slope up or down as the
frequency changes. These beacons are accurate. Often I can hear all
of the beacons on 14,100 kc, on my 20m dipole. After the K2 warms up
there will be a continuous line from all the beacons. =20
Most likely the line will not be exactly centered at your sidetone
frequency. You can center it up with tuning knob and then you can try
cw reverse and various filters and modes to see how they affect the
frequency. You will be able to see the bandwidth of the various modes
and see if the signal remains in the passband. The advantage of
BeaconSee is the trace is over a long period of time.
It is more than worth the effort to set up BeaconSee because it can be
used to evaluate band conditions from you to the whole world. It
gives good indication that your receive is up to snuff also.
You can simulate normal operation by attaching your dummy load and
going into tune for 10 minutes and then receive the beacon for 10
minutes. Don't use more power than you would for digital mode eq
5watts for the base K-2. CW and SSB do not use 100% power on average.
You will overheat the finals if you use full power and it won't
simulate CW or SSB power anyway. If you have the 160 meter option
with the second receive antenna connector you won't have to change the
output to the dummy load by hand, but otherwise you will have to
switch to the second output or physically connect and disconnect the
dummy load. Or you can punch in the frequency and pop over and see
how normal operation has affected operation anytime. This is easiest
if you mark the AF gain setting with a bit of masking tape. You will
likely want to use Pre all the time so you can hear the weak ones.
James
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From: "Frank LaFranco W6NEK"
To:
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Changes from 100 watts to 10 watts
Date: Sat, 28 Dec 2002 12:13:31 -0800
Hello all,
The statement that beacon station 4U1UN is operating on 28.200 MHz is an
over simplification because the NCDXF beacon station referred to is only one
of 18 beacon stations, spread through the world, which rotate transmitting
on this assigned frequency. On 28.200 MHZ, the New York beacon station
4U1UN transmits 40 seconds past the hour for a period of 10 seconds. It
then repeats the 10 second interval every 3 minutes. During that 3 minute
period, 17 other NCDXF world wide stations are transmitting on this
frequency. Each of them also transmit for 10 seconds. Therefore, in one 3
minute period, you have 18 worldwide beacons each transmitting ,one at a
time, for 10 seconds. This is very useful for determining propagation
openings to various parts of the world in real time. Each beacon will send
its call sign (at 22WPM) followed by 4 one second carriers at 100W, 10W, 1W
and 0.1Watt. In addition, the same 18 world wide beacons transmit on other
HF bands. These include 20 meters (14.100 MHz), 17 Meters (18.110 MHz), 15
Meters (21.150 MHz), 12 Meters (24.930 MHz) and 10 Meters (28.200 MHz). If
you tune to these frequencies, be sure to place your rig in CW mode to
ensure you are listening to the displayed frequency. The NCDXF HF Beacon
Network is a very valuable operating aid. For more info on this network go
to: http://www.ncdxf.org/beacon.htm
73... Frank - W6NEK
----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Saturday, December 28, 2002 8:08 AM
Subject: [Elecraft] Changes from 100 watts to 10 watts
> This is a critique of the Elecraft K2/100
>
> Here are approximate changes on the NCDXF beacon
> going from 100 watts to .1 watts. The station is 4U1UN
> New York City on 28.200. Antenna is a 4 element beam.
>
> S9 100 watts
> S8 10 watts
> S5 1 watt
> S3 .1 watt
>
> You are invited to listen to the NCDXF/ IARU beacon
> network and listen for yourself the actual change in
> signal level as the beacon goes fm 100 watts to 10 watts, 1
> watt and 100 mW,
-- snip --
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From: "Dave"
To: "Tom"
Cc:
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KI02 Interface software
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2003 17:39:13 -0000
Tom and Gang
You might try BeaconSee: http://www.ip.pt/coaa/beaconsee.htm
And Logger: http://www.qsl.net/kc4elo/
They are both free and work well on the K2. Bev, the author of BeaconSee has
some K2 specific commands that I forwarded, having changed PCs at this end I
lost the e-mail and settings. Kenwood commands will work but beware of
needing to use VFO A on the K2 otherwise it changes band but doesn't set the
correct frequency. Logger has the same issues with VFO A/B.
73's Dave, G4AON
K2 #189
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